LET THE INDIGENOUS GAMES BEGIN
The World Indigenous Nations Games hosts athletes from 29 countries
Landon Sasakamoose, from the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, lets it fly in the bow and arrow competition at the 2017 World Indigenous Nations Games on the Enoch reserve west of Edmonton.
The competitions at the 2017 World Indigenous Nations Games kicked off Monday afternoon with a traditional bow and arrow event at Enoch Cree Nation reserve.
Trina Goodin, sports director for the games, said it feels amazing for Alberta to be hosting indigenous nations from around the world, a dream that was started by Treaty 6 Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild.
It is the second such games, running July 2-9 across Treaty 6 territory in Alberta and hosting indigenous athletes from 29 countries.
The games include traditional bow and arrow, canoeing and spear throwing, as well as soccer, basketball and running races.
This competition marks the first bow and arrow experience for Efrain Ortega, a 27-year-old athlete from Panama who competed with his teammates cheering him on in the stands.
Ortega said, via translator Dani Bermudez, he was very happy to be competing in Canada and have the ability to represent his country.
“I will like to win a gold medal and be one of the best of Panama,” he said.
Landon Sasakamoose, 18, from the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, is representing Canada in the games and he too competed in bow and arrow for the first time.
He said it was a great experience to meet people from around the world.
“For the past two, three days, I’ve been doing sign language,” he said of communicating with athletes from other countries.
Goodin said they are hoping to provide the visiting athletes with a positive experience by sharing their cultures and traditions.
“At our athletes’ village, we have a teepee village,” she said. “For a lot of the South American and Central American countries, one of their wishes was to sleep in a teepee.”
Another element of the games is an educational conference series running simultaneously for the community to take part in.
Sharon Firth, four-time Canadian Olympian and games ambassador, spoke as part of a forum Tuesday on missing and murdered indigenous women.
She said she wanted to share the message of resilience, breaking barriers and working through every difficult situation.
Firth and her twin sister, Shirley, were the first indigenous women inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and Goodin said she’s someone young athletes strive to be. “She dedicated her life to crosscountry skiing at the age of 12,” she said. “She’s a role model, she’s someone that our youth can look up to.”
Firth said these games are a way to bring the different indigenous communities together and celebrate.
“I think at this point in history, there’s been so many negative things happening to aboriginal people,” she said.
“It’s all about celebration of life, celebration of our culture, our games, our traditions and to showcase our indigenous lifestyle to the world.”